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Zak Failla

Assistant Managing Editor

zfailla@dailyvoice.com

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Equal parts Lois Lane, J. Jonah Jameson and Vicki Vale, Zak! has traveled from coast-to-coast covering small and big town community news in both in print and online for nearly a decade since his graduation from the award-winning Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College in 2010.

Before settling into the Hudson Valley, Zak! previously spent time in the New York Daily News newsroom and worked for hyperlocal digital news outlets on Long Island. He wrote sports for The Ithacan and The Ithaca Journal before taking his talents to the Pacific Northwest, where he served as the sports editor at the Shoshone News-Press until heading back east to work with Daily Voice.

Zak Failla's Contributions

News
Silver Spring Peace Corps Official Accused Of Double-Dipping In Federal Fraud Scheme: Feds Silver Spring Peace Corps Official Accused Of Double-Dipping In Federal Fraud Scheme: Feds
Silver Spring Peace Corps Official Accused Of Double-Dipping In Federal Fraud Scheme: Feds A former high-ranking Peace Corps official from Maryland is accused of secretly double-dipping from taxpayers while abusing his federal access in a fraud scheme that netted tens of thousands of dollars, federal prosecutors announced. Evester Edd, 64, of Silver Spring, was arrested Wednesday, July 2, and charged with wire fraud, theft of government funds, and making false statements, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland. Edd worked as a senior human resources official at the Peace Corps while also allegedly working as a federal contractor.  Prosecutors say…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
‘To Catch A Predator’ Sting: 16 Men Arrested In Virginia Trying To Meet Minors For Sex: Police ‘To Catch A Predator’ Sting: 16 Men Arrested In Virginia Trying To Meet Minors For Sex: Police
‘To Catch A Predator’ Sting: 16 Men Arrested In Virginia Trying To Meet Minors For Sex: Police Sixteen men — including suspects from Virginia, Maryland, and Canada — were busted in a months-long undercover sting targeting online predators in Fairfax County, police announced. Detectives from the Fairfax County Police Department’s Child Exploitation Unit (CEXU) wrapped up the operation this week, arresting 16 suspects who allegedly arranged to meet minors for sex after chatting with undercover officers online, officials said. The men — ages 20 to 65 — showed up in the county, or planned to, expecting to commit sex acts with children. Instead, they were met by detectives from CEXU and t…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Tipster Leads Cops To Mercedes-Driving Drug Dealer Staying At Stafford Motel, Sheriff Says Tipster Leads Cops To Mercedes-Driving Drug Dealer Staying At Stafford Motel, Sheriff Says
Tipster Leads Cops To Mercedes-Driving Drug Dealer Staying At Stafford Motel, Sheriff Says Tipsters dropped the dime, and a Mercedes-driving motel guest in Virginia wound up in cuffs, deputies said. Marc Morgan, 60, was busted with cocaine in his car and motel room after a search warrant was executed at the Super 8 on Wicomico Drive in North Stafford, the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office announced on Wednesday, July 2. Deputies say they were first alerted to suspected drug dealing at the motel by a concerned citizen. They soon saw Morgan make a hand-to-hand transaction in the parking lot and passed the information to the Special Investigations Unit. Detectives moved quickly.&nbs…

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by Zak Failla
News
Maryland Man Who Helped Lure Teen To Waldorf Before Fatal Ambush Learns Prison Fate Maryland Man Who Helped Lure Teen To Waldorf Before Fatal Ambush Learns Prison Fate
Maryland Man Who Helped Lure Teen To Waldorf Before Fatal Ambush Learns Prison Fate A Maryland man who set a deadly plan in motion that ended with a teenager shot in the head has been sentenced in Charles County, prosecutors said. Ricardo Kevon Colbert-Lyles, 24, of Waldorf, was handed a 25-year prison term, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the 2022 killing of 19-year-old Aden Christopher Garcia, according to Charles County State’s Attorney Tony Covington. Garcia was ambushed on Oct. 23, 2022, during a planned drug deal that never happened.  Prosecutors said Colbert-Lyles, along with co-defendant Dalvin Devonte Risi and an unidenti…

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by Zak Failla
Schools
School Employee In Arlington Had Inappropriate Contact With Student, Police Say School Employee In Arlington Had Inappropriate Contact With Student, Police Say
School Employee In Arlington Had Inappropriate Contact With Student, Police Say A school employee in Virginia is facing charges — and now police seek additional victims — for engaging in a relationship with a young student, officials say. Rene Alfredo Escobar Jr., 31, of Arlington, an Instructional Assistant assigned to Washington-Liberty High School, was the subject of an investigation launched in late May, resulting in his arrest this week, police say. According to the Arlington Police Department, Escobar had inappropriate contact, both online and in person, with a juvenile female student.  On Tuesday, July 1, Escobar was arrested and charged with contribu…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Man Who Raped Unconscious Woman In Frederick Arrested Years Later, Police Say Man Who Raped Unconscious Woman In Frederick Arrested Years Later, Police Say
Man Who Raped Unconscious Woman In Frederick Arrested Years Later, Police Say A Maryland man wanted for a violent sexual assault in Frederick more than seven years ago is finally behind bars. Roberto Carlos Campos Roque, 43, was arrested on Monday, June 30, in the Baltimore area after being on the run since September 2019, police announced. Campos Roque was wanted in connection with a kidnapping and rape investigation stemming from an incident in downtown Frederick in March 2018.  Surveillance video showed him dancing with an intoxicated woman at the Cellar Door restaurant on East Church Street, where he and another man were seen dragging her out toward his car…

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by Zak Failla
Traffic
Beltway Reopens In Silver Spring After Tractor-Trailers Crash, Spill Fuel Beltway Reopens In Silver Spring After Tractor-Trailers Crash, Spill Fuel
Beltway Reopens In Silver Spring After Tractor-Trailers Crash, Spill Fuel Traffic is up and running on the Beltway Inner Loop after two tractor-trailers crashed and overturned, officials in Montgomery County say. Early on Wednesday, July 2, first responders were called to a stretch of I-495 in Silver Spring, where there was a reported crash that ended with a fuel spill and debris strewn across the roadway. All lanes were shut down for hours in the area of Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road near exit 31. Traffic later got by single file along the right shoulder while crews cleaned up the debris and fuel spill. The crash caused traffic chaos in Maryland. …

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Two Dead, Two Critical In Single-Vehicle Oxon Hill Rollover Crash: Police Two Dead, Two Critical In Single-Vehicle Oxon Hill Rollover Crash: Police
Two Dead, Two Critical In Single-Vehicle Oxon Hill Rollover Crash: Police A high-speed crash in Maryland left two people dead and sent two others to the hospital with critical injuries. The single-vehicle wreck happened just after 9 p.m. Tuesday, July 1, in the northbound lanes of Indian Head Highway near the Kerby Hill Road exit in Oxon Hill, according to the Prince George’s County Police Department. District resident Ursula Churn, 70, was pronounced dead at the scene. A second passenger died shortly after at a hospital. Officials said that person’s name will be released once their family is notified. The vehicle was carrying five people when it struck a traffi…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Deputy Dies In Line Of Duty At 60 In St. Mary's County: 'Policing Was His Life' Deputy Dies In Line Of Duty At 60 In St. Mary's County: 'Policing Was His Life'
Deputy Dies In Line Of Duty At 60 In St. Mary's County: 'Policing Was His Life' A longtime deputy in Maryland died in the line of duty this week, the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office announced. Deputy Mark Porter, a retired sergeant, died on Tuesday, July 1, while on the job, the agency confirmed Wednesday. “With deep sadness and profound respect, Sheriff Steve Hall and the men and women of the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office announce the line-of-duty death of Deputy Mark Porter, retired sergeant,” the department said. Deputy Porter, 60, was “one of the longest-serving sworn deputies in the agency” and was “known for his steadfast commitment, integrity, and decad…

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by Zak Failla
News
Police ID Pedestrian Killed In Early-Morning Crash On Route 210 In Bryans Road Police ID Pedestrian Killed In Early-Morning Crash On Route 210 In Bryans Road
Police ID Pedestrian Killed In Early-Morning Crash On Route 210 In Bryans Road The man who was struck and killed while crossing Route 210 overnight in Charles County has been identified, Maryland State Police confirm. Troopers from the La Plata Barrack were called just after 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 2, to the northbound lanes of Maryland Route 210, just north of Route 225 in Bryans Road. When they arrived, they found 45-year-old Kory Branson, of Bryans Road, lying in the roadway, officials said. Emergency personnel pronounced him dead at the scene. Investigators say Branson was trying to cross Route 210 when he was hit by a Chevrolet Tahoe. The driver stayed on the…

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